Graf Zeppelin....

[Lucky13]

How different would the war of the Atlantic have been if the Kriegsmarine had launched and commissioned their aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin AND her sister ship? Was there any more aircraft carriers on the drawingboard? Let's say that they would have put another three in service, when do you think that they would have been put into action, '40, 41? How would the RN and later USN have dealt with them? Would they have had any effect on BoB and Operation Torch?

 

[syscom3]

Its fate would be like that of the Bismark.

A single sortie to Davey Jones locker.

 

[GrauGeist]

I think Germany's naval strategy in respect to thier surface assets could have been a bit more aggressive.

Instead, they let thier capital ships get cut up a little bit at a time.

Had the DKM Graf Zepplin been finished and complimented as intended, taken to the North Atlantic with the Bismark or Tirpitz and a supporting screen, including U-Boats, there would have been hell to pay, surely.

I'm sure that the Royal Navy would have had to contend with them eventually, perhaps in a scenario like the WWI battle of Jutland, but at least the ships would have been out there doing what they were intended.

 

[Njaco]

I thought we had a thread here awhile ago that went into this in depth. Can't seem to find it. Had some interesting points and some pics.

 

[BombTaxi]

An interesting one this. A Bismarck with Me109s flying top cover would probably have survived the Stringbag strike that sealed the 'real' Bismarck's fate. RN carrier aircraft were very poor until around 1942/43 and the advent of Seafires and Lend-Lease Grummans on British flight decks. They only succeed where they did because they operated against light/no opposition most of the time. 109s would have made short work of Skuas, Rocs, and Sea Gladiators, giving Stukas a clear run on the RNs capital ships. This could well have been fatal - RN AAA defence was of inferior quality for most of the war. Op Pedestal showed what kind of fate an RN force with little or no air cover could expect - battlegroups and convoys would both have been at severe risk from KM carrier strikes.

 

[Marcel]

I thought we had a thread here awhile ago that went into this in depth. Can't seem to find it. Had some interesting points and some pics.

I think this one: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/german-aircraft-carrier-12841.html

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

And with that, this thread is closed. Please refer to the link above.